With the third of three storms pelting San Diego’s shores this week, what “good” looks like at Torrey Pines — as Brandt Snedeker is wont to visualize as he thinks his way around a course — might not look so picturesque, even if the skies are expected to clear up by the start of the Farmers Insurance Open on Thursday.

Famers Insurance Open volunteer has been there since Torrey Pines debut in 1968.

Famers Insurance Open volunteer has been there since Torrey Pines debut in 1968.

Think soggy fairways; slick, wet greens; and thick, wild rough. Not that the 36-year-old pro is in the habit of letting such obstacles — real or psychological — throw him off his game.

“Normally, the worse conditions, the better I fare,” Snedeker said last week. “At that point, it’s about attitude.”

He ain’t kidding.

Not only did happy thoughts help him turn in the only under-par round while swinging into the teeth of a final-round storm at Torrey Pines last year, they’ve become as crucial as the Bridgestone clubs in his bag after he honed his attitude while adjusting on the biggest stage imaginable in October:

He even gave his American teammates a pep talk on the subject on the eve of the final round before a two-shot deficit to Andy Sullivan after three holes forced Snedeker to back up his words with action.

“You can overcome a lot of problems that you perceive on a golf course with a great attitude,” Snedeker said. “What does ‘good’ look like? I use that as a barometer when I look at how to think myself around a golf course or handle pressure.”

“Good” that afternoon at Hazeltine looked like this: Birdies on back-to-back holes to immediately erase Sullivan’s lead, two more on the seventh and eighth, and two more on the back nine in a bogey-free round that figures to frame his mental edge from here on out.

“I was able to hit a lot of quality golf shots and make a lot of key putts under the most intensive pressure I’ve ever been under,” said Snedeker, who went 3-0 in the Ryder Cup. “I know a Sunday afternoon in a major is going to hold nothing to that. I know that, in the Ryder Cup, I was 10 times more nervous than I’ve been in any other tournament I’ve won or any major I’ve been a part of.

“I know I can handle it now.”

He certainly handled the situation at Torrey Pines last January.

As heavy rain and 45 mph gusts forced two delays and ultimately cut the day short, Snedeker reached the clubhouse without a single bogey on his card as his final charge erased a six-shot deficit even as half of Sunday’s finishers shot 80 or higher.

Of course, Snedeker’s attitude needed another adjustment when the inclement weather forced him to wait 24 hours before learning whether or not his 3-under 69 was good enough for his second win in San Diego.

“That was a pretty crazy feeling that night, unlike anything I’ve had on tour,” Snedeker said. “I told my wife, ‘I know what it feels like to be a tour wife now — to have no control over anything and be a nervous wreck.’”

Preparing to defend that title, Snedeker figures to be in an especially upbeat mood, even after missing the cut in his most recent event, the Sony Open.

Here’s why: He’s continuing to make strides in swing changes to improve an inconsistent mid-iron game, and a week off in Hawaii is providing the perfect mental break ahead of a West Coast swing that sets up well for Snedeker.

First of all, half of his PGA Tour wins have come in California, the poa annua greens used in abundance on the West Coast aligning perfectly with Snedeker’s upbringing in the game (sorry, the new North Course has ditched them entirely this year).

At Torrey Pines in particular, Snedeker’s name is on the nine-hole scoring record (27, Nos. 10-18 in 2007) and the old North Course record (61 in Round 1 in 2007), while his two wins, two second-place ties and a third-place tie among 10 San Diego starts add up to $3.78 million in earnings, trailing only Tigers Woods in all-time money won here.

Indeed, whatever the elements throw at him, Snedeker figures to be in the right mindset when he arrives in San Diego this week.

Then again …

“It’s not hard,” Snedeker said with a laugh, “to be in a great mood when you’re at Pebble Beach or Torrey Pines.”